New car query

Leemo85

Hi Guys,

Very new to this so please bare with me.

I'm in desperate need of a car as my own blew up yesterday. I have been driving a 1.4L Golf for the past 10 years with very little trouble and not really taking good care of it.

In my search for a new car yesterday I came across a 131 (old shape), 1.6 Diesel (90bhp), 96k km, built in Bluetooth. Garage giving 6m warranty and new timing belt with service.
I have it bargained down to 11K euro. He will take my old car from me for parts.

I'm not sure if diesel is right for me as I don't do excessive driving other than the odd monthly trip which would be about 200km. Mostly city driving.

Also, is there anyone that thinks I can get a better deal. Should I be concerned about mileage if I go for a Diesel and what do other recommend.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Alanstrainor

Diesel

What car are you looking at? Is it another Golf? If it is mostly city driving that you are doing I would think a diesel is a poor choice, a 200km spin every couple of months doesn't change that. Most modern petrols are plenty economical to do that kind of mileage.

Leemo85

Don't Buy

Yeah it's another Golf I'm considering but not committed to it either. I'm just looking for a reasonable, reliable car that won't break the bank.

bazz26

Diesel is a waste of time and of no benefit if your mostly driving in city traffic and rarely driving outside it. Better off with a petrol or maybe a hybrid.

Have you looked at buying in the UK?

Leemo85

Don't Buy

Most people seem to be saying to stay away from diesel so I'm having second thoughts now.
I have been looking at some cars in Northern Ireland. Does anyone have recommendations for good, nippy petrol cars.
Thanks @bazz26 and @Alanstrainor for your advice

knipex

Leemo85 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Very new to this so please bare with me.

I'm in desperate need of a car as my own blew up yesterday. I have been driving a 1.4L Golf for the past 10 years with very little trouble and not really taking good care of it.

In my search for a new car yesterday I came across a 131 (old shape), 1.6 Diesel (90bhp), 96k km, built in Bluetooth. Garage giving 6m warranty and new timing belt with service.
I have it bargained down to 11K euro. He will take my old car from me for parts.

I'm not sure if diesel is right for me as I don't do excessive driving other than the odd monthly trip which would be about 200km. Mostly city driving.

Also, is there anyone that thinks I can get a better deal. Should I be concerned about mileage if I go for a Diesel and what do other recommend.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

You sir should not buy a diesel.

It will not save you any money indeed it will probably cost you money.

Ideal car for long journey \ motorway driving, 300,000km trouble free would be easy.

City driving will kill the car and break you,. DPF will go, DMF will fail, ERG will fail.

Wrong tool for what you want to do. Buy petrol, hybrid or electric.

chicorytip

I recommend you look for a car with a small diesel engine. A VW Polo 1.2 litre (75 b.h.p.) for example. It would be ideal for the type of commuting you intend doing and well within your budget to purchase.

Alanstrainor

Diesel

chicorytip wrote: »

I recommend you look for a car with a small diesel engine. A VW Polo 1.2 litre (75 b.h.p.) for example. It would be ideal for the type of commuting you intend doing and well within your budget to purchase.

How do you figure that would be better than a petrol or hybrid? The OP's mileage is low (from what we know), with little in the way of big trips. A diesel is precisely the opposite of what they should be getting. Lot's of short trips don't do diesels any favours.

OP, I'd look into a Toyota Auris Hyrbid. It is a similar size to your Golf, and it should come in at the right price for a similar year and mileage.

Leemo85

Don't Buy

Thanks for the advice. Don't suppose you have any opinions on what I should buy in and around Euro 10k mark???

Leemo85

Don't Buy

Really appreciate the advise here. It seems to be the common answer from most people I talk to.
Back to the drawing board I guess

R.O.R

There's a good few Auris/Prius/Yaris Hybrid's on Carzone within budget. Cheap to run, known for their reliability, easy to drive, and ideally suited for city usage with fairly frequent long distance runs.

Whichever of the above suits you best, but they are what I'd be looking at.

ELM327

Diesel

Have you considered an EV?
Perfect for city driving and short trips.

knipex

chicorytip wrote: »

I recommend you look for a car with a small diesel engine. A VW Polo 1.2 litre (75 b.h.p.) for example. It would be ideal for the type of commuting you intend doing and well within your budget to purchase.

A diesel is ideal for short city runs ???

Diesels (and their emission systems) like to run relatively hot and at fairly constant RPM.

They hate urban driving, nothing gets up to correct temperature,the engines are geared high so tend to pull away in traffic, tuned so they are easy to stall. O get an auto and you solve half the problems but a Diesel is not designed for the application in which the OP wants to use it.

Would you use a sledge to drive plasterboard nails or tacks..

Philb76

chicorytip wrote: »

I recommend you look for a car with a small diesel engine. A VW Polo 1.2 litre (75 b.h.p.) for example. It would be ideal for the type of commuting you intend doing and well within your budget to purchase.

That is bad advice read wot vw have to say about ther own 1.2tdi engine

Philb76

If it's petrol and nippy tsi and ecoboost engines Toyota 1.33 can't comment on the reliability of the ecoboost engine though lot of internet horror stories don't know whether true or not

Plasmoid

I'm looking out for a probably the exact same type of car most folks are recommending here... a small petrol, but also >70hp so it will pull on motorways with decent fuel use.

There's so many used diesels out there, at price that look great compared to petrol, at least on paper.
There's so few powerful petrol small cars, it's depressing.
Dealers don't seem to have many recent (2013+) petrols, and those that do seem to all be ~60hp. Very little to choose from in Dublin at least as far as i can tell.
Either they are selling quickly, or dealers are not getting their hands on them.

chicorytip

knipex wrote:

They hate urban driving, nothing gets up to correct temperature,the engines are geared high so tend to pull away in traffic, tuned so they are easy to stall. O get an auto and you solve half the problems but a Diesel is not designed for the application in which the OP wants to use it.

There is no real evidence to back up these claims. The newest diesel engines are built to cope with all types of driving. A Polo or Fiesta diesel is a city type of car mostly driven in urban environments. There is no real advantage to be had in owning a petrol equivalent - better to drive, perhaps, but that's about it. The predicted demise of diesel as a fuel source is likely to occur in the very, very distant future, if at all.

ba_barabus

OP a Toyota Hybrid is the best option for you or else treat yourself to a Lexus CT200H

_Brian

Diesel

OP your not doing anything near the mileage for a diesel and would be mad.

knipex

chicorytip wrote: »

There is no real evidence to back up these claims. The newest diesel engines are built to cope with all types of driving. A Polo or Fiesta diesel is a city type of car mostly driven in urban environments. There is no real advantage to be had in owning a petrol equivalent - better to drive, perhaps, but that's about it. The predicted demise of diesel as a fuel source is likely to occur in the very, very distant future, if at all.

What ever you think yourself !!

I drive diesel, have done for well over a million Km. Never had a problem but I drive Diesel the way it was designed to be driven. Its the perfect tool for the job i want it to do.


If you think VW or Ford have reinvented the DMF, ERG valve, DPF and diesel technology to deal with frequent short trips then that's your opinion.

I woudl say there is absolutely no advantage to driving a small diesel car over a small petrol.

none.

The increased purchase and servicing costs more than negates any saving on fuel

chicorytip

knipex wrote:

The increased purchase and servicing costs more than negates any saving on fuel

Well, the purchase prices would be broadly similar for second hand cars and the service intervals are much longer for diesel engines.

bazz26

It is lunacy to suggest that a diesel car whether it has a big or small diesel engine is suited to city driving. The whole concept around buying a diesel is that the use it is given makes it financially more economical to run over a petrol for the same use. City driving mostly consists of short stop/start driving which gives no benefit to a diesel car as the engine nearly never gets up to optimal efficiency to return superior mpg to a similar petrol.

As for longer service intervals on diesels, I have my doubts around whether that's a good thing or just marketing by manufacturers to make running costs more favorable to the likes of fleet managers while any long term problems maybe well outside the manufacturer's warranty period and become the owner's problem. Anyway with the small mileage the OP is doing I'd say a time interval is relevant to servicing than mileage interval making the entire thing a mute point in this case.